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Paraguayan court grants US extradition of former President of South America Football Confederation over corruption charges

A Paraguayan Court has granted the extradition of former President of South America Football Confederation (CONMEBOL), Nicolas Leoz, to the U.S. following corruption scandal being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department.

Mr Leoz has been under house arrest in the Paraguayan capital, Asuncion, and also being battling his extradition to the U.S. where he has been on the wanted list since 2015.

He is being charged for money-laundering and receiving millions of dollars as bribe from marketing companies in exchange for granting TV and marketing rights for football completions and tournaments.

The extradition request long-awaited, took place the same week that an Argentine witness implicated a number of South American Football officials in a corruption scandal, during a trial in New York.

“The court has finally resolved that the formal request for the extradition order is validated by the treaty and laws, and the extradition of Mr. Leoz has been granted so he can face trial in the United States, in a  the decision, which can be appealed,” Judge Humberto Otazu said.

Mr Leoz trial which is expected to take place in New York is to last about five weeks, during which witnesses will be called by prosecutors to testify and present 350,000 pages of evidence.

Federal prosecutors in New York have indicted more than 40 sports and football executives since the U.S. first revealed its investigations into corruption at the World football governing body in 2015.

Mr Leoz was President of CONMEBOL for 27 years, from 1987 to 2013, before he resigned after acknowledging that he received the sum of $130,000.

Loez also resigned as a member of FIFA’s executive committee, citing health reasons. He was reprimanded by FIFA but was however not penalised.

Mr Leoz alongside Brazilians Joao Havelange and Ricardo Teixeira as well as Julio Grondona from Argentina are believed to have been the masterminds behind corruption schemes in the South America Football Confederation.

Leoz had lobbied Paraguay’s legislators in 1997 for a law which exempted the headquarters of CONMEBOL from legal intervention. The law made him untouchable as he once bragged that only the Vatican enjoyed the same kind of “immunity and privileges” he enjoyed.

However, following the 2015 scandal, Paraguay signed a law which repealed the immunity that the CONMEBOL headquarters had enjoyed for almost 20 years.

Authorities raided the CONMEBOL headquarters after the immunity was lifted, seizing documents which were sent to the U.S. Justice Department.

Mr Leoz’s legal team have however persistently frustrated all attempts to extradite him, as his lawyer, Ricardo Preda said: “the facts he is accused of in the United States are not punishable in Paraguay.”

FIFA has also commenced investigations into Mr Leoz’s alleged involvement in Qatar’s bid to host the 2022 World Cup.

In all, Leoz has said he is innocent and plans to battle out his extradition to the United States.

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